Fiber Carding Drum Design

[beloitdavisja]

I know there's a few on here with some experience in the fiber arts so I wanted to ask for some advice or pointers.

My wife has asked me to build her a Carding Drum to process raw wool. She sent me this video, and I bought the plans off etsy for it:

So my main questions for those of you who might have built one, are there any design elements worth adding to this design? Do you have a good source for the carding cloth (the most expensive part of it)? Any other tips/advice worth mentioning?

Thanks.

 

[awldune]

Just from the video I would say if you don't have a lathe it would probably be worth your while to borrow someone else's for a moment.

I was disappointed not to see the machine in action in the video you linked.

 

[beloitdavisja]

Just from the video I would say if you don't have a lathe it would probably be worth your while to borrow someone else's for a moment.

I do have a lathe that I'll use for the drum, though I'll probably just use it to true it up after gluing the plywood discs together.

I was disappointed not to see the machine in action in the video you linked.

Heh. Don't you just hate that? Just leaves you unsatisfied. Here's a video of one in action:

 

[awldune]

I used to have a very fluffy dog and I experimented some with carding his fur. It did not spin well, unfortunately (or perhaps, just as well?)

 

[Jeff]

Thanks for the follow-up. I was curious to see one in action too.
1. How do you size the diameter and length of each of the drums for carding wool?

2. Where will you get raw wool?

 

[beloitdavisja]

Thanks for the follow-up. I was curious to see one in action too.
1. How do you size the diameter and length of each of the drums for carding wool?

2. Where will you get raw wool?

1 - I'm sure someone knows more about the ratios than I, but the plans I bought call for a 7" diameter for the large drum, and 2" diameter for the smaller drum. The drum lengths aren't as important. The longer the length, the more you can process, you just have to find some carding cloth that will fit the length & diameter of the drum.

2 - From a sheep, of course! Kidding aside, you can buy raw wool from a lot of places, from local farmers, markets, to online stores like Etsy. My sister, who is an accomplished knitter, gifted my wife this past week a raw wool fleece that she had lying around and wasn't using. I believe she got it at the Iowa State Fair, and it included the breed and name of the sheep it was sheared from. (A Romeldale named "Honey") There's all kinds of different breeds of sheep that give you different types & colors of wool. You can also get other fleeces like Alpaca, but those are more expensive. Seems like a whole different world to me, much like woodworking is to her

She has really gotten into spinning yarn lately (she was a fiber arts major in college). She's been using some hand carders to card the wool, and it takes a while. The drum carder will allow her to card much faster. She then dyes and spins it. From there she'll either knit something, or sell the yarn skeins on her etsy shop she recently setup. However, a drum carder is pretty pricey, which is why she asked me if I could make her one for a fraction of the cost.

 

[Jeff]

Ok. I looked at Kristen's Etsy site and she has a variety of "hand woven" items for sale. How did she make those without a card scraper machine? Does she already have a spinning wheel to use the carded wool?

Thanks.

 

[beloitdavisja]

Ok. I looked at Kristen's Etsy site and she has a variety of "hand woven" items for sale. How did she make those without a card scraper machine? Does she already have a spinning wheel to use the carded wool?

Thanks.

She uses a hand carder, also called carding brushes, to card the wool by hand. She has an antique spinning wheel to spin the carded wool fiber into yarn. This is still considered “hand spun” as it is not mass produced and made by hand.

Her “hand woven” pieces are woven by hand. She also has a floor loom that she does some pieces on. The loom pieces are still considered hand woven as it is not mechanically powered and also not mass produced.

 

[Mike Davis]

She has really gotten into spinning yarn lately (she was a fiber arts major in college). She's been using some hand carders to card the wool, and it takes a while. The drum carder will allow her to card much faster. She then dyes and spins it. From there she'll either knit something, or sell the yarn skeins on her etsy shop she recently setup. However, a drum carder is pretty pricey, which is why she asked me if I could make her one for a fraction of the cost.

James, your wife does lovely work, please tell her so.

I bought my daughter a used card for $100 which made her very happy. She knits and use to weave, now mostly does needle felting of small animal figures.

There are several sites that specialize in used textile equipment. You wife may know of some but might want to expand her search before you put in all the time and effort of building a drum card.

 

[beloitdavisja]

James, your wife does lovely work, please tell her so.

I bought my daughter a used card for $100 which made her very happy. She knits and use to weave, now mostly does needle felting of small animal figures.

There are several sites that specialize in used textile equipment. You wife may know of some but might want to expand her search before you put in all the time and effort of building a drum card.

Thank you, Mike. That means a lot coming from you knowing you've been in the fiber industry. I relayed your compliment.

I took a quick look at some used equipment sites, but everything I found was more on the industrial side. Perhaps I'm not looking in the right places.

I really don't mind the time and effort to build one. It's not often she asks me to make something for her, but when she does I usually use it as an opportunity to do something outside my comfort zone and learn something new (and maybe get a new tool out of it....). Plus she'll brag about it to her fiber friends which might lead to a commission. :-D That's how I sold my first yarn bowls.

 

[Mike Davis]

Ok, so you don't need a lathe for this. Use a 6 or 8 inch hole saw to make the large drum parts from good plywood and a 2 inch hole saw for the smaller drum.

Or for the large you could make a router jig to make the 7 inch parts.